February 2018

02/13/2018

With the national conversation around immigration swirling, the technology community continues to speak out. This week, Fenwick and dozens of technology companies have taken a stand in support of sanctuary cities and sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide, communities which continue to be threatened with loss of federal funding.

On February 12, Fenwick filed an amicus brief on behalf of 49 technology companies encouraging the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm a district court’s decision to permanently enjoin enforcement of Executive Order 13,678, which threatened to strip so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions” of all federal funding.

Santa Clara County and the city and county of San Francisco sued to block enforcement of the executive order in early 2017, arguing that it was unconstitutionally vague, attempted to usurp Congress’ spending power, imposed impermissible restrictions on the use of federal funds and reflected an unlawful attempt to commandeer state resources.

The district court agreed with the plaintiffs and permanently enjoined enforcement of the executive order in November 2017. The federal government’s appeal of that ruling is now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

As stated in our brief, “Silicon Valley has become the technological innovation capital of the world because of the talents, drive, and ingenuity of people from all over the world. Diversity, openness, and tolerance are among our greatest strengths, and our effort to more fully realize these values is fundamental to who we are.”

By attempting to force jurisdictions to abandon those values in favor of hostility and suspicion, the executive order comprises an “attack on the values of our companies and communities” and is “likely to injure our economic as well as our moral well-being.”

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At Fenwick & West, we are proud of our commitment to the community and to our culture of making a difference in the lives of individuals and organizations in the communities where we live and work. We recognize that providing legal services is not only an essential part of our professional responsibility, but also an excellent opportunity for our attorneys to gain valuable practical experience, learn new areas of the law and contribute to the community.